1 Do your research

Take clippings from magazines of ideas, styles and colours that you like. Keep them in a safe place until you are ready to decorate.

Fabrics, accessories, even ceramics are a great source of inspiration for kitchen colour schemes.

2 Choose your expensive items first

The most important decision you need to make when planning a kitchen colour scheme is your bench tops, cupboard joinery and appliance colours. Once you have selected these, then you can have fun working with your paint colours.

It is best to choose colours for your bench tops etc. that have some longevity because they are expensive to replace. 

3 Put together your colour schemes

Once you have selected your joinery and bench tops, you are ready to work on your wall and accent colours. It is always best to create a mood board so that you can look at how each of these elements work in together. If you have chosen stone or flecked laminate, you could match up some of the colours in your sample to paint colours. This will tie the bench tops in with the rest of the colour scheme.

Check out the Handy Tips section on the Paint Place website for a full downloadable tip sheet on building your own mood board or colourway.

4 What colours are best?

The most popular kitchen wall colours are often whites, off whites or neutrals.  They complement bench tops and appliances and allow you to add colour in different ways through accessories. However you may want to reverse this and use deep, dark colours on your walls to profile white joinery and light bench tops.

The experts at Paint Place can offer you colour advice and they have all the tools you need to make the right colour decision. Pop into your local store or call 1800 008 007 for a free copy of our Top 20 Best Whites Colour Card.

5  Adding in accents?

Add in accents in your splash back area or through accessories. Coloured splash backs are very popular in soft water tones, through to bright vibrant oranges and reds.  Bright accessories such as toasters, jugs and ceramics also add a focal point to a neutral kitchen.  Alternatively if you have a kitchen island bench, you can paint that in accent colours like a deep aubergine, such as New Look Bellaire, or smoky blues like New Look Sculpt and Bond.

6 Choosing your paint

Kitchen walls have to be able to sustain the rigours of heat, steam and spillages. It is best to use a paint that is specifically designed for this. New Look Xtrawear Satin Acrylic is easy to wipe down, is tough and can withstand everyday wear and tear.

New Look is manufactured by Wattyl and is exclusive to Paint Place.